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Journal articles on the topic 'Church and politics – Africa'

Author: Grafiati

Published: 4 June 2021

Last updated: 1 February 2022

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1

Crafford, D. "Uitdagings vir die Ned Geref Kerk in Suidelike Afrika met Malawi en Zambië as illustrasiegebiede." Verbum et Ecclesia 11, no. 1 (July 18, 1990): 17–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v11i1.1009.

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Challenges for the Dutch Reformed Church in Southern Africa with Malawi and Zambia as illustration areas What will be the challenges for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa if in the coming decades its isolation from Africa could be ended because of political developments in a post-apartheid era? The Dutch Reformed Church planted indigenous churches in many African Countries like Botswana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Namibia. The role of the church in Africa will be determined by its relations with these younger churches. The challenges in the fields of evangelism, church ministry, the youth and in the socioeconomic and political areas are illustrated specifically in the cases of Malawi and Zambia.

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2

Kumalo, Simangaliso Raymond, and Henry Mbaya. "AGAINST ALL ODDS: ALPHAEUS ZULU AND RACISM IN CHURCH AND SOCIETY." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 41, no. 2 (December 18, 2015): 4–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/152.

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This article examines the response of Bishop Alphaeus Hamilton Zulu to the racism that was prevalent in both the church and society when he was elected as the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa. Clergy, especially bishops, are by virtue of their ecclesial positions expected to transcend racial prejudices, to embrace all members of their churches and to transform their churches to multi-racial ones. This means that they have to deal with racial stereotypes both within the church and society at large. This study is based on interviews with key leaders of the Anglican Church who knew and worked with Bishop Zulu, as well as an analysis of media releases and minutes of meetings that he was part of and some that were written about him. This article argues that Bishop Zulu played a pivotal role in the fight against racism, through his episcopal ministry which brought politics and religion into a creative tension, when he worked as bishop, speaker of the Legislative Assembly in Natal and key founder of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). It also argues that church leaders must hold politics and religion together for their ministry to bring transformation to both the church and society.

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3

Gruchy, John W. De. "The Church and the Struggle for South Africa." Theology Today 43, no. 2 (July 1986): 229–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/004057368604300208.

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“The church struggle in South Africa is being redefined as a struggle within the churches related to the political struggle for the future of South Africa. Christian participation in and reflection on the political struggle has re-written the agenda for the church struggle.”

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4

Kgatle, Mookgo Solomon. "SOCIOLOGICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT CAUSED SCHISMS IN THE APOSTOLIC FAITH MISSION OF SOUTH AFRICA." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 42, no. 1 (August 22, 2016): 47–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/1216.

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The Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) of South Africa has experienced schisms from the year 1910 to 1958. The schisms were caused by sociological and theological factors. These are schisms by the Zionist churches (Zion Apostolic Church, Christian Catholic Apostolic Holy Spirit Church in Zion, Zion Apostolic Faith Mission); Latter Rain; Saint John Apostolic Faith Mission and Protestant Pentecostal Church. The sociological factors that led to the schisms by the Zionist churches and the Protestant Pentecostal Church are identified as racial segregation and involvement in politics respectively. The theological factors that caused these schisms by Latter Rain and Saint John Apostolic Faith Mission are manifestations of the Holy Spirit and divine healing respectively. After comparison of the factors, it is concluded that racial segregation is the main factor that caused schisms in the AFM.

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5

De Villiers, D. E., and D. J. Smit. "Hoe Christene in Suid-Afrika by mekaar verby praat. Oor vier morele spreekwyses in die Suid-Afrikaanse kerklike konteks." Verbum et Ecclesia 15, no. 2 (July 19, 1994): 228–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v15i2.1094.

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Are Christians in South Africa speaking at cross purposes? On four varieties of moral discourse in the context of South African churches The thesis of the article is that the use of different types of moral discourse contributes to the misunderstanding and conflict that typify the theological and church debate on socio-political issues in South-Africa. The distinction of the well-known American ethicist James M Gustafson of four varieties of moral discourse (prophetic, narrative, ethical and policy) can he used to categorise the different types of moral discourse used in South Africa. Acknowledgement of the fact that these varieties of moral discourse are used in South Africa can contribute to better understanding of and participation in the theological and church debate on socio-political issues.

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6

Borchardt, C. F. A. "Die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en die Suid-Afrikaanse Raad van Kerke." Verbum et Ecclesia 8, no. 1 (July 17, 1987): 1–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v8i1.960.

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The Dutch Reformed Church and the South African Council of Churches The General Missionary Conference which was founded in 1904 became the Christian Council of South Africa in 1936. In 1940 a founder member, viz. the Transvaal Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church withdrew from the council. In 1968 a change of name to the South African Council of Churches reflected a deeper involvement in social and political matters and it gradually also became more representative of the black Christian point of view. Despite various invitations, the Dutch Reformed Church has not rejoined the Council and relations have been very strained, but at its last synod in 1986 the Dutch Reformed Church decided that informal discussions could be held.

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7

Hartwig, K. "The Church and AIDS in Africa: The politics of ambiguity." African Affairs 111, no. 445 (June 6, 2012): 675–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/afraf/ads042.

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8

Heuser, Andreas. "Memory Tales: Representations of Shembe in the Cultural Discourse of African Renaissance." Journal of Religion in Africa 35, no. 3 (2005): 362–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1570066054782315.

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AbstractThe discourse on African Renaissance in South Africa shapes the current stage of a post-apartheid political culture of memory. One of the frameworks of this negotiation of the past is the representation of religion. In particular, religious traditions that formerly occupied a marginalised status in Africanist circles are assimilated into a choreography of memory to complement an archive of liberation struggle. With respect to one of the most influential African Instituted Churches in South Africa, the Nazareth Baptist Church founded by Isaiah Shembe, this article traces an array of memory productions that range from adaptive and mimetic strategies to contrasting textures of church history. Supported by a spatial map of memory, these alternative religious traditions are manifested inside as well as outside the church. Against a hegemonic Afrocentrist vision, they are assembled from fragments of an intercultural milieu of early Nazareth Baptist Church history.

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9

Robnett, Belinda, and James A. Bany. "Gender, Church Involvement, and African-American Political Participation." Sociological Perspectives 54, no. 4 (December 2011): 689–712. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/sop.2011.54.4.689.

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While numerous studies discuss the political implications of class divisions among African-Americans, few analyze gender differences in political participation. This study assesses the extent to which church activity similarly facilitates men's and women's political participation. Employing data from a national cross-sectional survey of 1,205 adult African-American respondents from the 1993 National Black Politics Study, the authors conclude that black church involvement more highly facilitates the political participation of black men than black women. Increasing levels of individual black church involvement and political activity on the part of black churches increases the gender gap in political participation and creates a gender participation gap for some political activities. These findings suggest that while institutional engagement increases political participation, the gendered nature of the institutional context also influences political engagement outcomes.

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10

Atuahene, Daniel. "The status of the Church in Africa." Review & Expositor 115, no. 2 (May 2018): 182–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0034637318759029.

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The Church in Africa is currently experiencing a surge in numerical growth, consequently making Christianity the leading religion in the continent. Just before the twentieth century, Africa was known to be a heartland of voodooist, witchcraft, and traditional religions. The continent is now emerging as the “center of gravity of Christianity.” Research predicts Africa to have the largest majority of Christian population by 2060, with four in ten Christians living in the region. Despite tremendous growth, however, the Church in Africa still lacks the influence and impact one would expect it to have. Poverty and hunger are still rampant, especially in the Sub-Saharan area, where children are malnourished and deprived. Although the cornerstone of Christianity is love, one would expect that the growth of the Church would affect the socio-economic state of Africa. Sadly, the current statistics show otherwise. Notable, too, is the contribution of missionaries to the global missionary effort, which is only 6%. Amid numerical growth, the African Church still faces major challenges, including but not limited to persecutions in certain regions by some governments and extremist groups, the lack of “African identity,” and low enthusiasm to participate in political leadership and community development.

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11

Katongole, Emmanuel. "Field hospital: HEAL Africa and the politics of compassion in Eastern Congo." Missiology: An International Review 45, no. 1 (January 2017): 25–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0091829616680649.

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The essay explores the image of the church as field hospital so as to make explicit the interconnections between evangelism, ecclesiology, and politics. Founded by Dr. Jo Lusi and his wife Lyn, HEAL Africa’s holistic ministry in and around Goma in Eastern Congo provides an illuminating example of mission’s critical and constructive engagement with societies, change, and conflict. Accordingly, by attending to the story of HEAL Africa, the essay shows how the church’s engagement with a wounded world takes the form of compassion in its many dimensions. Thus, what HEAL Africa’s compassionate engagement in Eastern Congo helps to illumine are the historical, practical, and spiritual dimensions of the church as a field hospital.

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12

Boesak, A. "Kan die NG Kerk vandag nog iets vir Suid Afrika beteken?" Verbum et Ecclesia 29, no. 1 (February 3, 2008): 32–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v29i1.3.

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This article is the edited version of the presentation held at the University of Pretoria’s “Theological Day” on January 31, 2008. It seeks to answer the question: “Can the Dutch Reformed Church still make a difference in South Africa today?” This article places this question within the wider world and African contexts, then focuses on the South African situation. It describes the South African context as one of spiritual uncertainties and confusion, political tension, economic inequalities and social unravelling, which each in the their own way and together put particular challenges before the church. This paper answers the question the affirmative, provided that the Dutch Reformed Church meets its own direct challenges, the most important of which is the challenge toward reunification within the Dutch Reformed family of churches.

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13

Duncan, Graham A. "The Politics of Credentials: A Commentary and Critique of the Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa." Ecclesiastical Law Journal 20, no. 3 (August 23, 2018): 305–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x18000480.

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The use of credentials in an ecclesiastical context is a means of assuring that a minister is who he or she claims to be and is therefore trained and qualified to exercise ministry within a particular church tradition as determined by individual denominations. The concept and use of credentials has developed over time. Using primary sources in the main, this article examines the use of credentials as a tool for ‘inclusion’ or a means of ‘exclusion’, or both, in the history of the largest Presbyterian church in Southern Africa and its predecessors. The research question under study is to what degree, if any, were credentials used to control ministers and to cleanse and purify the church of radical – such as anti-apartheid – elements?

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14

Duncan, G. A. "Notes on the foundation of the Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa (Fedsem)." Verbum et Ecclesia 27, no. 3 (September 30, 2006): 836–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v27i3.189.

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The Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa was established in a changing and fluid situation in 1960s South Africa both politically and ecclesiastically. Its foundation can be attributed to the influence of these national and church influences. Politically, the changing context in the educational world in particular and ecclesiastically, a growing tendency towards ecumenism both nationally and internationally contributed to the need for an independent institution which would train ministers for the mainline churches in a deteriorating political context. In addition, there was a strong view that the influence of the Holy Spirit was operative in the political context which ‘forced the church to be the church’.

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15

Somé, Magloire, and Cecily Bennett. "Christian Base Communities in Burkina Faso: Between Church and Politics." Journal of Religion in Africa 31, no. 3 (2001): 275–304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006601x00185.

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AbstractDuring the last decade, Christian Base Communities (Communautés chrétiennes de base, CCBs), which first emerged in Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta) in 1970, have played an important part in the strategy for pastoral work and evangelisation of the Catholic Church's hierarchy in that country. The article examines the origins and development of the CCBs, their relationship with Burkina Faso's political, educational and social structures, the contribution they could make to a renewed and distinctively African Church. It concludes that, largely because of a lack of autonomy, they have not yet achieved their aims either within the Church or in the promotion of democracy, though these remain real possibilities.

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16

Van der Water, D. "The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) - A case study of a united and ecumenical church." Verbum et Ecclesia 22, no. 1 (August 11, 2001): 149–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v22i1.629.

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In this article, the ecumenical heritage of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa is described by the General Secretary of that church. The early history of the UCCSA, related to the London Missionary Society, created a sense of self-awareness that led to the unification of racially divided congregational churches during 1967. This set the ground for the active involvement of the UCCSA in the political liberation processes in Southern Africa. In addition, the UCCSA 's continued exploration of further ecumenical endeavours is traced. The covenental theology of the UCCSA forms a unifying thread throughout these processes.

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17

ENGEL, ELISABETH. "Southern Looks? A History of African American Missionary Photography of Africa, 1890s–1930s." Journal of American Studies 52, no. 2 (May 2018): 390–417. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002187581700192x.

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This article traces and analyzes the missionary photography of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the most important independent black American institution that began to operate in colonial South Africa at the onset of the politics of racial segregation in the 1890s. It argues that AME missionary photography presents a neglected archive, from which a history of black photographic encounters and a subaltern perspective on the dominant visual cultures of European imperialism and Christian missions in Africa can be retrieved. Focussing in particular on how AME missionaries deployed tropes of the culturally refined “New Negro” and the US South in their visual description of South Africa, this article demonstrates that photography was an important tool for black subjects to define their image beyond the representations of black inferiority that established visual traditions constructed.

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18

CABRITA, JOEL. "POLITICS AND PREACHING: CHIEFLY CONVERTS TO THE NAZARETHA CHURCH, OBEDIENT SUBJECTS, AND SERMON PERFORMANCE IN SOUTH AFRICA." Journal of African History 51, no. 1 (March 2010): 21–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021853709990818.

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ABSTRACTTwentieth-century Natal and Zululand chiefs' conversions to the Nazaretha Church allowed them to craft new narratives of political legitimacy and perform them to their subjects. The well-established praising tradition of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Zulu political culture had been an important narrative practice for legitimating chiefs; throughout the twentieth century, the erosion of chiefly power corresponded with a decline in chiefly praise poems. During this same period, however, new narrative occasions for chiefs seeking to legitimate their power arose in Nazaretha sermon performance. Chiefs used their conversion testimonies to narrate themselves as divinely appointed to their subjects. An alliance between the Nazaretha Church and KwaZulu chiefs of the last hundred years meant that the Church could position itself as an institution of national stature, and chiefs told stories that exhorted unruly subjects to obedience as a spiritual virtue.

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19

Müller, Retief. "Traversing a Tightrope between Ecumenism and Exclusivism: The Intertwined History of South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church and the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Nyasaland (Malawi)." Religions 12, no. 3 (March 9, 2021): 176. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel12030176.

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During the first few decades of the 20th century, the Nkhoma mission of the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa became involved in an ecumenical venture that was initiated by the Church of Scotland’s Blantyre mission, and the Free Church of Scotland’s Livingstonia mission in central Africa. Geographically sandwiched between these two Scots missions in Nyasaland (presently Malawi) was Nkhoma in the central region of the country. During a period of history when the DRC in South Africa had begun to regressively disengage from ecumenical entanglements in order to focus on its developing discourse of Afrikaner Christian nationalism, this venture in ecumenism by one of its foreign missions was a remarkable anomaly. Yet, as this article illustrates, the ecumenical project as finalized at a conference in 1924 was characterized by controversy and nearly became derailed as a result of the intransigence of white DRC missionaries on the subject of eating together with black colleagues at a communal table. Negotiations proceeded and somehow ended in church unity despite the DRC’s missionaries’ objection to communal eating. After the merger of the synods of Blantyre, Nkhoma and Livingstonia into the unified CCAP, distinct regional differences remained, long after the colonial missionaries departed. In terms of its theological predisposition, especially on the hierarchy of social relations, the Nkhoma synod remains much more conservative than both of its neighboring synods in the CCAP to the south and north. Race is no longer a matter of division. More recently, it has been gender, and especially the issue of women’s ordination to ministry, which has been affirmed by both Blantyre and Livingstonia, but resisted by the Nkhoma synod. Back in South Africa, these events similarly had an impact on church history and theological debate, but in a completely different direction. As the theology of Afrikaner Christian nationalism and eventually apartheid came into positions of power in the 1940s, the DRC’s Nkhoma mission in Malawi found itself in a position of vulnerability and suspicion. The very fact of its participation in an ecumenical project involving ‘liberal’ Scots in the formation of an indigenous black church was an intolerable digression from the normative separatism that was the hallmark of the DRC under apartheid. Hence, this article focuses on the variegated entanglements of Reformed Church history, mission history, theology and politics in two different 20th-century African contexts, Malawi and South Africa.

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20

Nhaueleque, Laura António, and Luca Bussotti. "The Conceptualisation of Africa in the Catholic Church." Social Sciences and Missions 32, no. 1-2 (May 3, 2019): 148–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18748945-03201004.

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Abstract This article aims to show the evolution of the conceptualisation of Africa according to the Catholic Church, using as its key references Daniele Comboni and Adalberto da Postioma, two Italian missionaries who lived in the 19th century and 20th century respectively. Through them, the article attempts to interpret how the Catholic Church has conceived and implemented its relationships with the African continent in the last two centuries. The article uses history to analyse the thought of the two authors using a qualitative and comparative methodology.

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21

Sundermeier, Theo. "Der Einfluß der Religion auf Politik und Gesellschaft in Afrika." Zeitschrift für Evangelische Ethik 37, no. 1 (February 1, 1993): 297–307. http://dx.doi.org/10.14315/zee-1993-0141.

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AbstractThe author explains four patterns concerning the relation between the church and the political institutions in Afrika. Thesepatterns have be seen against the background ofthe original Ontocratic unity in premale societies, which all rulers in Africa favorite in an hidden way. Colonialism promotes the separation between political and religious life, nationalism, however, restores the unity. In South-Afrika a prophetic dualism is turning against the theocratic ideology of the Boers. All in all a relation of criticalloyality is coming into existence in Africa.

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22

Ranger, Terence. "Dignifying Death: the Politics of Burial in Bulawayo." Journal of Religion in Africa 34, no. 1-2 (2004): 110–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006604323056741.

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AbstractThere has recently been much more recognition of the African role in the making of the colonial cities of southern Africa. Nevertheless, many kinds of action have still seemed to be impossible for Africans living in tightly controlled municipal townships. Among these is the political and symbolic management of death. While literature on West African towns celebrates 'mausoleum politics' and the struggle over the burial of dead men under the floors of their houses, in colonial Southern African cities it has been assumed that Africans had no choice but to accept the constraining rules of drab municipal cemeteries. Similarly, the initiative and agency, which we know rural Africans in Southern Africa to have exercised in their encounters with mission Christianity, have been much less documented in the towns. In short, it has been assumed that the Southern African town—and particularly the black townships—represented colonial control at its most intense and oppressive, allowing little room for symbolic or practical autonomy whether in social life, politics or religion. This article tests such presuppositions in relation to Southern Rhodesia's second largest town, and major industrial centre, Bulawayo. It argues that from the late 1890s there has always been a black Bulawayo, expressed first in the absence of municipal or state control of the Location and expressed later by the emergence of varying influential men and women there with the capacity to take cultural and symbolic initiatives, perhaps especially in the sphere of death, burial and commemoration. It discusses the successful performance of rites to 'bring back the spirit' a year after death despite missionary and municipal prohibitions; it discusses the role of the innumerable Burial Societies in colonial Bulawayo; it discusses the efforts of educated young men to erect memorials for African kings and chiefs; it discusses the varying focus of three types of African urban Christianity—missionfounded churches, 'Ethiopianist' independent churches and Apostolic prophetic churches—on rituals of death. By so doing it opens up many questions about the social, political, cultural and religious life of an African Location in colonial southern Africa.

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MBEWE, CONRAD. "The Priesthood of All Believers in Africa." Unio Cum Christo 3, no. 1 (April 1, 2017): 127. http://dx.doi.org/10.35285/ucc3.1.2017.art10.

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Abstract: Protestant churches in Africa have come under scrutiny from political leaders due to the abuse that citizens in the churches suffer at the hands of their leaders. This is in part due to the loss of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers taught in the Bible and rediscovered during the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. We trace the discovery of this doctrine in the Reformation, its application to Africa, and its current absence, and we call church leaders to teach this truth afresh to God’s people.

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Vengeyi, Obvious. "Mapositori Churches and Politics in Zimbabwe: Political Dramas to Win the Support of Mapositori Churches." Exchange 40, no. 4 (2011): 351–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157254311x600753.

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AbstractThis article confirms the validity of the well known observation by scholars regarding the intrinsic interconnectedness of religion and politics in Africa. This truism is affirmed by demonstrating how Zimbabwe’s main political parties, Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (zanu-pf) and Movement for Democratic Change (mdc), contrary to their public statements appeal to religious leaders and groups for political survival. Special focus is on ‘white garment churches’ otherwise commonly known as Mapositori the biggest brand of African Initiated Churches. As such, mainline churches and traditional chiefs are considered in passing especially in order to understand the present state of affairs where Mapositori rule the roost in political matters of Zimbabwe.

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Masoga, M. A. "Chasing the wind amidst roaring lions! Problematisation of religiosity in the current South African socio-political and economic landscape." Theologia Viatorum 40, no. 1 (July 25, 2016): 68–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/tv.v40i1.16.

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Mbiti once asserted that Africans are notoriously religious. For Mbiti, Africans are incurably religious. It becomes necessary to look intently at the current South African socio-political and economic landscape in the context of religiosity. There are vivid indications that religiosity in South Africa has become a common ‘terrain ‘of use, abuse, and misuse in processes of both politicking and moralising. Interestingly, when any political leadership asserts power, there is also a discourse of ‘religiosity’ that develops. This propensity has unfortunately equated religion or being religious (in South Africa) to political democratic legitimization, consolidation and normalization. Outside South Africa is the narrative of Prophet TB Joshua. There are claims that a number of political leaders have been to the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Lagos head-quarters, in Nigeria, arguably chasing their political validity. There are other relevant narratives and accounts in South Africa which include the frequent visits to Moriya, the headquarters of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), in Limpopo and also the Isaiah Shembe meeting place at eKuphakameni. The question is whether religion or religiosities are appropriate instruments to give political credibility. The paper aims to question how religion and religiosity affect the current South African socio-political and economic landscape. Some anecdotes and narratives of how polarized this situation is will be presented and analysed.

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Goedhals, Mandy. "AFRICAN NATIONALISM AND INDIGENOUS CHRISTIANITY: A STUDY IN THE LIFE OF JAMES CALATA (1895-1983)." Journal of Religion in Africa 33, no. 1 (2003): 63–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006603765626712.

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AbstractEven among historians of Christianity in South Africa sympathetic to the liberation struggle, there has been a tendency to focus on white clergy rather than the involvement of black clergy before the 1960s. This study of James Calata, Anglican priest and African nationalist, attempts to contribute to filling a gap in the existing historiography and also to address some of the problems raised by a biographical approach to history. Like white clergy, Calata faced opposition from the church hierarchy, but for Calata there was also a degree of racism in the way the church treated him, while his opposition was rooted in community, and integrated opposition politics and a struggle for an indigenous expression of Christianity. Calata's own ideological position reflects the ideological generosity (or vagueness) of the ANC. The essay also illustrates the radicalisation of Calata's position in response to increasing repression.

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Le Roux, J. H. "Politieke mag, die Ou Testament en kerkeenheid." Verbum et Ecclesia 17, no. 2 (April 21, 1996): 359–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v17i2.524.

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Political power, the Old Testament and church unity The family of Dutch Reformed Churches in South Africa are involved in tense discussions on church unity. One aspect which must be discussed thoroughly is the legitimation of political "power. Not only in the past but also the present Mandela government is religiously supported. It is argued that this a dangerous venture. Some examples from the Old Testament are used to illustrate this point. It is stated that Israel became disillusioned in political power and therefore reformulated royal theology.

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De Villiers, D. E. "Die NG Kerk en die oorgang na ’n nuwe Suid-Afrika." Verbum et Ecclesia 20, no. 1 (August 6, 1999): 15–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v20i1.1163.

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The Dutch Reformed Church and the transition to a new South Africa The comprehensive transformation of the South African society that followed the transfer of political power to a new government in 1994 has had significant consequences for the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and its members. In the article an analysis is given of these consequences. Attention is also given to the reaction of members of the DRC to the transformation of the society. An attempt is made to formulate a responsible approach to the new South Africa by the DRC and his members. The need for the DRC to inspire his members to be true to their Christian calling, to equip them to serve effectively and to find new and effective ways to witness publicly in the new South Africa, is stressed.

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Isichei, Elizabeth, and Adrian Hastings. "The Church in Africa 1450-1950." International Journal of African Historical Studies 30, no. 1 (1997): 171. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/221568.

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30

Frahm-Arp, Maria. "Pentecostalism, Politics, and Prosperity in South Africa." Religions 9, no. 10 (October 3, 2018): 298. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel9100298.

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One of the fastest growing religious movements in South Africa is a form of Pentecostal Charismatic Evangelic (PCE) Christianity that has some version of prosperity theology as a central pillar. This paper, based on sermons and interviews with 97 PCE pastors in the area of Johannesburg, South Africa, argues that these churches form loose clusters defined by similar emphases along a continuum of prosperity theology. These clusters are “abilities prosperity,” “progress prosperity,” and “miracle prosperity.” Some churches fall neatly into one of the clusters, while others appear as more of a hybrid between two of these types. The paper shows that a relationship exists between the type of theology preached by PCE churches and the nature and extent of the political engagement that the pastors suggested that members in these churches should have.

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Gathogo, Julius, and Margaret W. Gitumu. "Mwendoni-ire Z K”." Jumuga Journal of Education, Oral Studies, and Human Sciences (JJEOSHS) 2, no. 1 (February 20, 2019): 16. http://dx.doi.org/10.35544/jjeoshs.v2i1.13.

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In this article, Professor ZK Mathews is not only seen as a responsible leader in his own right but more importantly, he is seen as a prominent educationist in the complex socio-political situation of apartheid South Africa. “Mwendoni-ire Z K” (beloved ZK) became the first African to obtain a Bachelor of Arts Degree (BA) at the University of South Africa, in 1924. His other public roles as ANC founder, Ambassador, an educationist, activist for social justice, a Pan-Africanist, and an ecumenist makes him one of a kind. As both a community and church leader, the article seeks to assess his display of social responsibility in the dark period of African history when separate development was the vogue. Did he act responsibly in addressing social issues during his heydays? What didn’t he do during his lifetimes? Are there critical communal issues that he failed to do yet he had an opportunity which he did not exhaustively utilize? To this end, this article builds on the premise that the spread of Christianity in Africa, its shape and character, has been the by-product of responsible Leadership, both in the Mission Churches/mainline churches and in the African Instituted Churches, and even from within the emerging afro-Pentecostal churches. Without responsible leadership on the part of the Africans themselves, the spread of Christianity in Africa would have nose-dived. In categorising the three brands of Christianity in Africa, it is critical to acknowledge that, Mission Churches are those that evolved directly from the outreach of Western denominations; afro-Pentecostals are those who consciously or unconsciously allow a measure of dialogue between Pentecostalism and some elements of African culture in their discourses; while African initiated Churches are those Churches which were born in Africa, and were primarily begun by Africans themselves as they protested western intrusion and subjugation of their cultures as Africans. In view of this, ZK is viewed as a responsible leader who confronted social ecclesial matters with a reasonable degree of success.

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Koopman, Nico. "Public Theology in (South) Africa: A Trinitarian Approach." International Journal of Public Theology 1, no. 2 (2007): 188–209. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156973207x207335.

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AbstractThis article discusses the potential of a Trinitarian approach to theology for constructing a public theology in the context of the immense social, political, economic, environmental, cultural, sexual and health challenges of (South) Africa. Theology engages with the three publics of academy, society and church in order to enhance a flourishing life for all humans and the rest of creation. Sallie McFague's Trinitarian planetary theology is investigated. It is argued that her portrayal of God—as the one who: creates us in God's image; liberates us from all enslavements; provides for our spiritual and material needs; saves us from personal and institutional sin and renews humans, churches, nature and society—offers guidelines for constructing a Trinitarian public theology on African soil.

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Adamah, Jackson Nii Sabaah. "Food insecurity, Eucharist, and community: Reading Jean-Marc Éla’s “shade-tree” theology in light of Balthasar’s ecclesiology." Review & Expositor 117, no. 4 (November 2020): 536–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0034637320974957.

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This article discusses how the African church together with the church catholic can develop a theological response to rising food insecurity in Africa. Considering food insecurity is only a symptom of a much broader set of sociological and political issues that determine the church’s response to the problem, this article explores the ecclesiological formulations of Jean-Marc Éla’s “shade-tree” theology in light of Balthasar’s ecclesiology. The differences in Éla’s and Balthasar’s visions of the nature and purpose of the church elucidate the complementary differences between the church as a prophetic community committed to social justice and a worshipping community committed to the performance of the Eucharist. Consequently, engaging the two Catholic theologians highlights the tensions of the church–world relationship the church must negotiate if it is to offer a robust response to food insecurity.

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Mpofu, Sifiso. "The significance and impact of African theological renaissance to orthodox Christianity." African Journal of Religion, Philosophy and Culture 1, no. 2 (December 1, 2020): 21–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.31920/2634-7644/2020/1n2a2.

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The trending African theological discourses in the context of the varied realities which have become the face of Christianity in Africa present a significant theological impact to the nature of orthodox Christianity. The pragmatic nature of the emerging trends in African Christianity cannot go unnoticed in the context of community formation and social development today. The intensity and spontaneity of African Christianity is a clear testimony of theological renaissance at work in the African Church scene. As African Christianity becomes more vibrant and believers become more determined to express their faith; the art of worship has become more and more innovative to the extent that theological discourse has clearly become influenced by pragmatic African values and spirituality thereby resulting in a clear manifestation of a defining paradigm shift in theology. This paper is a qualitative research study in which the theological discourses of the African pragmatic faith expressions are engaged premised on the grounded theoretical framework. This paper, therefore, explores the new conceptual theological thought patterns evolving around the life and work of the Church in Africa by ways and means of analysis to produce explanations and potentially new interpretations. The research concludes by pointing out that the revolutionary wave manifest in the worship life of the Church in Africa has grave political, cultural, and social implications for ‘traditional’ theology since it has the potential to radically change the face of orthodox Christianity for generations to come. Finally, this paper provides a fundamental synopsis of the nature, context and content of African Christianity in an environment where religion has tended to be a pivotal centre for social development and community formation.

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Gifford, Paul. "Liberia' Never–Die Christians." Journal of Modern African Studies 30, no. 2 (June 1992): 349–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x00010764.

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In Monrovia, the capital of the West African state of Liberia, Richard K. Sleboe, a Kru tribesman from Sinoe County and previously a Jehovah's Witness, founded in June 1970 the Kingdom Assembly Church of Africa. This came to be popularly known as the ‘Never—Die Church’ from its most distinguishing belief, namely that a true believer will never physically die but will live on this earth forever.

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Rossouw, P. J. "Pastorale sorg aan beswaardes en ongeduldiges met die oog op die opbou van die gemeente." Verbum et Ecclesia 12, no. 1 (July 18, 1991): 75–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v12i1.1031.

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Pastoral care for the objectors and the impatient: a church growth perspective The aim of this article is to develop a pastoral theological perspective to a recent pastoral problem. This problem is the growing polarization within churches (with the focus on the Dutch Reformed Church) in South Africa today due to theological, church policy, social, economical and political factors. These factors are outlined and analysed systematically. Special attention is paid to the two poles - the objectors and the impatient. The "objector" is described as the church member who experiences an increasing concern and impasse with the church regarding new directions that are followed, and which are not correct according to his convictions and perceptions. The "impatient" is described as a church member who experiences an Increasing impasse with the church because according to him the church is not going far enough in concretizing the full consequences of church policy (as spelled out in Church and Society for example). The nature, symptoms and needs of both are examined and guidelines for a directed pastoral care are proposed.

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Kustenbauder, Matthew. "Believing in the Black Messiah: The Legio Maria Church in an African Christian Landscape." Nova Religio 13, no. 1 (August 1, 2009): 11–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/nr.2009.13.1.11.

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This article examines the Legio Maria Church of western Kenya, a relatively rare example of schism from the Roman Catholic Church in Africa. One of more than seven thousand African Initiated Churches in existence today, it combines conservative Catholicism, traditional religion and charismatic manifestations of the Spirit. Yet this group is different in one important respect——it worships a black messiah, claiming that its founder, Simeo Ondeto, was Jesus Christ reincarnated in African skin. This article considers factors involved in the group's genesis as a distinct modern-day messianic movement, including: (1) the need to defend and define itself vis-àà-vis Roman Catholicism; (2) the appropriation of apocalyptic ideas found in Christian scriptures and their synthesis with local religious traditions; and (3) the imitation of Jesus' example and teaching to confront political and religious persecution in a manner marked by openness, universalism and nonviolence. Eschewing Western theological categories for African ones, this article draws upon internal sources and explanations of Legio Maria's notion of messianism and Ondeto's role therein to illustrate that, far from being a heretical sect, Legio may well represent a more fully contextualized and authentically homegrown version of Catholicism among countless other African Christian realities.

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Duncan, Graham. "ETHIOPIANISM IN PAN-AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE, 1880-1920." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 41, no. 2 (December 18, 2015): 198–218. http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/85.

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This article surveys the origins, development and extent of Ethiopianism (part of the African Initiated Church Movement [AIC]) in Africa which was widespread throughout Africa during the ‘high’ imperial and missionary era (1880-1920) which is the main focus of this article. However, they appear to have a number of common features – response to colonialism, imperialism and the missionary movement, the response of nationalism in the political sphere and Pan-Africanism linked to Ethiopianism in the religious sphere. This article seeks to explore these sometimes indistinguishable features, through selected examples, in a novel way as a Pan-African movement.

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Theron, P. F. (Flip). "From Moral Authority to Insignificant Minority: The Precarious State of the Dutch Reformed Church in a Post-Apartheid South Africa." Journal of Reformed Theology 2, no. 3 (2008): 228–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156973108x333722.

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AbstractThis article focuses on the transformation of the 'dearly beloved church' of the Afrikaners from a formerly mighty social institution in the 'old' South Africa to just another minority group in the 'new.' It argues that the Reformed tradition needs a 'political theology' in which the church's message of the cross is not compromised in search of social glory and political power.

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STRAUSS, Piet J. "Church and State Authority in South Africa." European Journal for Church and State Research - Revue européenne des relations Églises-État 10 (January 1, 2003): 239–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.2143/ejcs.10.0.2005676.

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Maxwell, David. "Writing the History of African Christianity: Reflections of an Editor." Journal of Religion in Africa 36, no. 3-4 (2006): 379–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006606778941977.

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AbstractThis article reviews the literature on African Christian Studies from the 1990s onwards and suggests new directions for research. The field has drawn great impetus from a series of historical/anthropological debates over conversion and the relative significance of missionary imperial hegemony and African agency. But there is a great need for work on twentieth-century missionaries and their contribution to colonial science. And there are too few studies of African leaders within mission churches, particularly in the era of decolonisation. Research on Pentecostalism has flourished but needs to be historicised. New areas for research are: African Christian diaspora and its impact on host communities; the impact of development and human rights agendas on the church; the effects of the AIDS pandemic. As the African Church becomes a more prominent part of World Christianity, scholars need to assess how African moral sensibilities are recasting the theology and politics of the historic mission churches.

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Cole, Jennifer. "Foreword: Collective Memory and the Politics of Reproduction in Africa." Africa 75, no. 1 (February 2005): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/afr.2005.75.1.1.

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When Bamileke women in urban Cameroon give birth, older women often recall the ‘troubles’, the period between 1955 and 1974 when the UPC (Union des Populations du Cameroun) waged a battle of national independence, as a way of teaching their daughters about the hazards of reproduction and threats to Bamileke integrity as a people (Feldman-Savelsberget al.). Slightly to the north-west, in the Nigerian city of Kano, Igbo talk constantly about their memories of the Biafran war, using them to forge a sense of Igbo ethnic distinctiveness that reinforces patterns of patron-client relations critical to the maintenance of transregional connections (Smith), while further to the south many Yoruba are reassessing the meaning of the old practice of pawning children (Renne). Meanwhile in Botswana, where the AIDS epidemic exacts a high death toll, members of an Apostolic church create distinctive practices of remembering what caused a person's death. In so doing, they counter the attenuation of care and support that often occurs when people interpret death as due to illnesses transmitted through blood and improper sexual relations (Klaits). By contrast in a Samburu community in Kenya, the cultural practice ofntotoi, a complex board game, reproduces a male-dominated history of kinship, while systematically erasing a female narrative of adulterous births and forced infanticide. And among rural Beng in Côte d'Ivoire, beliefs and practices that structure infant care serve as an indirect critique of the violence of French colonialism and of its aftermath that continues to interfere in Beng lives in the form of high rates of infant mortality (Gottlieb). As these examples taken from this volume indicate, the papers gathered together in this special issue examine the complex and often contradictory ways in which the reproduction of memories shapes the social and biological reproduction of people.

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Hexham, Irving, Bengt Sundkler, and Christopher Steed. "A History of the Church in Africa." International Journal of African Historical Studies 34, no. 1 (2001): 220. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3097339.

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Walshe, Peter. "South Africa: Prophetic Christianity and the Liberation Movement." Journal of Modern African Studies 29, no. 1 (March 1991): 27–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x00020735.

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The struggle against racial discrimination in South Africa, as many have argued, is theological as well as political. This is so, in the words of Ben Marais, because ‘Apartheid erodes the very basis of humanity’. It is also because the great majority of South Africans have some Christian identity and church affiliation, yet their faith commitments are heavily conditioned by class interests and particular ideologies. Consequently, prophetic Christianity, in relating biblical values to the analysis of society and the search for justice, has divided Christian communities by confronting the established churches as well as the state.

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Black, Joseph William. "Offended Christians, Anti-Mission Churches and Colonial Politics: One Man’s Story of the Messy Birth of the African Orthodox Church in Kenya." Journal of Religion in Africa 43, no. 3 (2013): 261–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12341257.

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Abstract Thomas Nganda Wangai’s personal account of the beginnings of the Orthodox Church in Kenya gives a first-hand narrative of the Kikuyu resistance to mission Christianity and mission-imposed education that led to the break with the mission churches and colonial-approved mission schools. The subsequent creation of the Kikuyu Independent Schools Association and the Kikuyu Karing’a Education Association as well as independent churches attempted to create a new identity outside the mission church establishment in colonial Kenya. This desire to remain Christian while throwing off the yoke of Western versions of Christianity led Nganda and other early leaders to seek out a nonmission form of Christianity that reflected the ancient purity of the early church. Nganda tells the story of how a schismatic archbishop of the African Orthodox Church provided the initial leadership for the nascent Orthodox movement. Nganda charts the interrelatedness of the search for an ecclesiastical identity and the decision to align with the Alexandrian Patriarchate and the growing political conflict with the Kenyan colonial authorities. The paper concludes with Nganda’s description of the Orthodox Church’s response to the declaration of Emergency in 1953, along with the hardship and suffering that the subsequent ten years of proscription imposed.

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Muller, Marlene. "In Church and Government we Trust: The Politics of Religion in Secular Post-Apartheid South Africa." International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences: Annual Review 3, no. 9 (2008): 129–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.18848/1833-1882/cgp/v03i09/52717.

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Bochow, Astrid. "Book review: The Church and Aids in Africa: Politics of Ambiguity, written by Patterson, Amy S." Journal of Religion in Africa 44, no. 3-4 (March 20, 2014): 420–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12340019.

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Urban-Mead, Wendy, Bengt Sundkler, and Christopher Steed. "A History of the Church in Africa." Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines 38, no. 1 (2004): 212. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4107293.

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Kgatla, ST. "Church and South African realities today:Towards a relevant missiology of radical discipleship." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 2, no. 2 (December 31, 2016): 57–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2016.v2n2.a03.

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South Africa is one of the last African states to attain liberation from colonial rule. It was ushered into democratic order after one of the most prolonged and painful racial struggles. In 1994 it was heralded as an example of peaceful transition with one of the best constitutions in the world. It was called the “Rainbow Nation” and Madiba Magic. At that stage, the world looked at the new state as the shining example for the rest of Africa. But today, the country has the greatest gap between the rich and the poor in the world. Extreme poverty, inequality, and unemployment are at the centre of the economic ills of the country. In fact, South Africa is reckoned to have one of the largest gaps between rich and poor in the world. The important question is: How did the country decline to the position where it finds itself today? This paper attempts to analyse the trajectory the country took after 1994’s first democratic election to where it is today. Extreme poverty, violence, corruption, greed, bitterness, entitlement mentality and political opportunism are the constituent elements that are plaguing the country.

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Lalloo, Kiran. "The church and state in apartheid South Africa." Contemporary Politics 4, no. 1 (March 1998): 39–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13569779808449949.

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